Abstract

The Mobile Agent (MA) technology is gaining importance in the distributed management of networks and services for heterogeneous environments. MA-based management systems could represent an interesting alternative to traditional tools built upon the client/server model, either SNMP- or CMIP- based. The acceptance of MA solutions for management is currently limited by two main requirements: the need of interoperability and the request for security. Without security, management systems can not suit global untrusted environments, such as the Internet; without interoperability, they can not interact with existing tools and legacy systems. The paper describes an MA-based management system which considers security and interoperability as the two main design objectives. It is an open management framework that grants interoperability by providing compliance with CORBA, the most diffused standard in the area of Object-Oriented components. In addition, it is based on a thorough security model and provides a wide range of tools and mechanisms to build and enforce flexible security policies. Keywords: Network and Systems Management, Web-based Management, Interoperability, Security, CORBA, MASIF, Java. Suggested Running Head: An Open Secure Mobile Agent Framework for Systems Management 2 1

Citations